Tulane is known for both the breadth and depth of its curriculum, which provide the opportunity to offer a variety of specialties and concentrations to its students. In some of these areas, students may obtain a certificate of specialization at graduation.

Concentrating and Specializing

Tulane Law School is unique in the opportunities it offers its students to concentrate in a wide range of areas. In addition to programs focusing on the traditional areas of law practice - such as Corporate and Commercial Law, Intellectual Property, Family Law, Trusts and Estates, Real Estate, Taxation, Public Law (Constitutional Law, Administrative Law, State and Local Government), and Litigation (Evidence, Trial Advocacy, Complex Litigation, Federal Jurisdiction and Practice) - Tulane offers unique specialty programs, including six in which certificates of specialization are awarded: Admiralty & Maritime Law, Civil Law, Environmental Law, European Legal Studies, International & Comparative Law, and Sports Law.

Alternatively, students may choose to survey a variety of areas, given the unknown nature of their future practice. Many other law schools identify certain courses that must be taken after the first year. Other than a course in legal ethics, Tulane does not. Tulane relies upon the informed judgments of its students to decide what problems concern them most and on their ability to translate those judgments into appropriate, valuable choices, including the choice to pursue one of the concentrations available at Tulane.

Slightly more than one third of Tulane law students receive a certificate at graduation. Over the last several years, students receiving certificates have been distributed, on average, as follows:

23 in Environmental Law
10 in European Legal Studies
27 in Admiralty & Maritime Law
23 in Civil Law
18 in Sports Law17 in International and Comparative

In order to obtain a certificate of specialization, JD students use a portion of their elective hours to take specified courses in the specialty area. More information about the areas in which these certificates are offered, and about the certificates themselves, is available below, in the sections about each specialty area. Students may receive only one certificate at graduation.

Certificates

Certificates of specialization are offered in Civil Law, Environmental Law, European Legal Studies, International & Comparative Law, Maritime Law, and Sports Law. Between 30 and 40 percent of Tulane law students receive one of these certificates at graduation.

Below is a summary of the requirements for each certificate.

Civil Law Certificate18 credit hours--15 hours of basic courses, 3 hours chosen from basic or enrichment courses. Basic courses are divided into three groups, and students must take at least one course from each group:

Group I – Fundamental Principles, Obligations, and Special ContractsObligations I; Obligations II; Civil Law Security Rights; Selected Topics in
Obligations; Civil Law Torts

Enrichment CoursesCivil Law Seminar; Mixed Jurisdictions Seminar; Comparative Law: European Legal Systems; Comparative Private Law; French Business Law; Oil & Gas, Advanced Civil Law; Real Estate Transactions & Finance, Civil Law; Civil Law History Seminar; Roman Law; Directed Research in Civil Law; clinical experience with civil law content, upon approval by the Civil Law Faculty of the work done by the student in the clinic; visitor, summer school abroad and mini-courses identified as appropriate by the Civil Law Faculty

Environmental Law Certificate15 credit hours--two foundation courses chosen from Pollution Control, Natural Resources, and Administrative Law. Additional environmental law or related courses from the following list totaling nine credit hours (or six credit hours if all three foundation courses are taken) – Clean Air Act; Clean Water Act; Climate Change; Coastal and Wetland Law; Comparative Environmental Law; Hazardous Waste Law; Toxic Torts; Toxic Tort Litigation; International Environmental Law; Environmental Enforcement; Environmental Law Clinic (only 3 credits count toward the certificate); Marine Pollution Law; Historic Preservation Law; Endangered Species and Biodiversity Law; Law & Economics; Energy Regulation & the Environment; Sustainable Energy Law; Law, Sustainability & Development; Law of the Sea; Animal Law; Water Resources Law and Policy; Oil & Gas Law (basic & advanced) [Note: Other courses in this area may be available in some years and may be counted toward the certificate with the approval of the faculty].

European Legal Studies Certificate15 credit hours—Students must complete and pass the following courses totaling 15 credit hours: (1) Civil Law Obligations (3 credits), which may be satisfied by Obligations I, or courses on French or German Obligations when these are offered; (2) Comparative Law (3 credits), which may be satisfied by the course Comparative Law: European Legal Systems, Modern European Legal History or Comparative Constitutional Law; (3) one of the following courses: International Business Transactions, Transnational Litigation, International Sale of Goods; (4) European Union Law: Constitutional Law (3 credits) and (5) European Union Law: Business Law (3 credits).

International & Comparative Law Certificate15 credit hours—Students must complete and pass (a) two of the following foundation courses: Comparative Law: European Legal Systems (or Comparative Private Law); Public International Law; Transnational Litigation, and (b) additional international and comparative law courses taken from the following list, totaling nine credit hours (or six credit hours if all three foundation courses are taken): any course or seminar with “comparative” in the title; European Union Law: Constitutional Law; European Union Law: Business Law; Foreign Affairs & National Security; International Human Rights; International Environmental Law; International Business Transactions; International Commercial Arbitration; International Institutions Seminar; International Intellectual Property; International Sale of Goods; International Trade, Finance, and Banking; Law of the Sea; World Trade Organization Seminar; any seminar with “international” in the title; any international and comparative mini-course approved by the relevant faculty.

Maritime Law Certificate12 credit hours--Admiralty I, Admiralty II, and three additional full-semester admiralty courses (excluding summer abroad courses) totaling a minimum of six credit hours from among those courses designated in the Law School Website with the prefix "Admiralty" or Law of the Sea, Marine Pollution, Maritime & National Security, Admiralty: Freight Forwarders, Shipbrokers & NVOCCs: Intermediaries & the Carriage of Goods by Sea (MINI-5110), Admiralty: Charter Parties (MINI-5120) or Admiralty: the Law of Maritime Salvage (MINI-5170).

Sports Law Certificate15 credit hours -- Antitrust; Intellectual Property; Labor Law; Sports Law: Antitrust & Labor; Sports Law: International & Intellectual Property; and three additional credits from among the following: Business Enterprises I; Income Taxation; Negotiation & Mediation Advocacy; Alternative Dispute Resolution; Intercultural Negotiation & Mediation (offered during the Berlin summer program), or any other courses(s) in the areas of dispute resolution or negotiation approved by the director of the program.